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The (digital native) struggle is real

Digital Natives, a term to describe those of us who grew up with technology, are no strangers to change. We’ve seen enough major tech shifts that nothing really surprises us anymore. We went from flip phones to smartphones, ran tech support for our parents, built lives on social media, use AI to plan our finances, and swipe in cardinal directions just to find a date. Another day, another breakthrough.

Because of this constant exposure to change, we’ve become wired for dynamic environments. And that’s why conventional education, with its static delivery and rigid structure, isn't going to cut it anymore. The world has moved on from static delivery and rigid learning environments. Lectures and textbooks feel outdated to a generation that just learned how to poach an egg from a 30-second TikTok.

This shift creates both challenges and opportunities for instructional designers. Traditional models that rely on passive learning are a thing of the past. To stay relevant and effective, instructional design has to reflect the way Digital Natives already learn: in short, multi-media fueled bursts that foster interaction and engagement.

How do we do that? In short, we adapt like the Digital Natives we are. Learners are still curious, still driven, but how they engage with content has changed. If the preference is for short-form video, then let’s build thoughtful microlearning that makes use of multimedia. If learners want agency, let’s design choice-based modules and interactive paths.

This doesn’t mean we're forever doomed to chase trends or reinvent the wheel every time a new app drops. This is frankly good news for me since I can already feel my technological bandwidth straining to keep up with the latest wave of social media platforms. We just have to pay attention to what's changing around us. Media trends reflect behavior, and behavior informs design.

Instructional design, to me, has always centered around how we can meet learners where they are, and while the tools may change, the mission stays the same: design learning that works.

Comments

  1. ShiyaoMay 23, 2025 at 3:40 PM

    Hi Adam! I really laughed out loud when I saw "Lectures and textbooks feel outdated to a generation that just learned how to poach an egg from a 30-second TikTok." This reminds me of my habit of playing video always 1.5 times speed... We live in a world that is faster than the world ever. This is a struggle for instructional designers on how we get attention from students and the audience. I am looking forward to more discussion in this semester on this issue.

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    Replies
    1. --Adam C.May 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM

      I'm glad that my post amused you, Shiyao! You make an excellent point about instant gratification. I also find myself speeding up videos now and then which feels somewhat foolish when the video is under 5 minutes long. Is my time really so precious that I can't let the video run at normal speed? Am I truly in such a rush? I think it certainly speaks to how conditioned many of us are towards immediate/instant gratification.

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